More High Street jobs are at risk after two shoe retailers plunged into administration.

The future of Barratts Shoes and Priceless Shoes, trading subsidiaries of Stylo Plc, is uncertain after administrators at Deloitte were called in to try and save the business.

They have asked creditors for a breathing space to allow the businesses, which between them employ 5,450 people, many across Kent and Medway, to trade out of their difficulties.

Administrators are hoping to secure an agreement from creditors to place the companies into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). The stores remain open and continue to trade.

Stylo operates 400 high street shoe stores in the UK under the Barratts and Priceless brands, employing 5,450 staff in total. It also has a headquarters in Bradford, Yorkshire.

Daniel Butters, Deloitte partner and joint administrator, said: "Stylo has faced a downturn in trading as a result of the current difficult economic and market conditions.

"We have been appointed as Administrators to Barratt and Priceless while we contact all creditors with a proposal to rescue the companies via a series of CVAs.

"Under the CVAs, we will be asking creditors and landlords to contractually vary their terms of trade in order to give Barratts and Priceless the necessary breathing space to allow them to deliver value for all stakeholders in the future.

"We are seeking to enable the rescue of Barratts and Priceless, while giving creditors and landlords certainty over their own positions. Ultimately, we are giving creditors and landlords a chance to vote on the future of the companies.

"If creditors accept the proposals, the administration would cease, after a 28 day cooling off period, and the Companies would continue to trade under the CVAs, which would remain in place for two years.

"The Administrators would become Supervisors to ensure that the Companies meet their obligations to creditors. In the meantime, the stores will continue to trade as normal."

Barratts and Priceless are the latest high street victims of the financial crisis which has already killed off Woolworths and MFI. Other well-known names like Kent-based Land of Leather, Zavvi, The Officers Club, Viyella and Adams chidrenswear have all been in administration.